


But I Will Sing of Your Strength

by snowynight



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-03-01 05:53:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13288368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowynight/pseuds/snowynight
Summary: Chandra thinks her Vulcan patient is doomed to die without cure, but his human companion proves otherwise.





	But I Will Sing of Your Strength

Someone kept knocking at Chandra's door.

Chandra would have ignored it - visitors were all trouble - if not for the knocker to persist for more than ten minutes. She opened the door with a frown. "Go away. Don't you see the closed sign?"

Outside stood a fair-haired human, who looked up when kneeling by an unconscious person by his side. "I'm sorry for intrusion, but they say that you're the only one who can save my friend. Can you help him?"

Chandra took a look at the unconscious man, noticing his pointed ear and greenish tint. A Vulcan or a Romulan? Either way, it was unusual to find one in the company of human.

"Bring him in," Chandra said. She might as well satisfy her curiosity.

* * *

"Your friend is suffering from blistering spore. It’s deadly, but there's a cure," Chandra said, pausing for the effect as the human's face lit up. "However, I advise you to give it up. You can only find the ingredient needed in the Forsaken Forest, and it’s full of dangerous animals. If you get bitten by one of them there, you won’t even have time to ask for help."

"Can you tell me how to collect them?"

 _Overconfident fool. He'll soon give up when he enters there._ Chandra thought. However, she gave him the necessary information, including the danger he might come across. The human studied it carefully, making notes and marking his map.

"If you can’t return with them in a week, your friend will be dead."

"I will return as soon as possible. Please take care of him," the human said.

"Do you expect me to be his unpaid nurse?" Chandra asked and quoted a huge sum of money for her fee, which was enough to pay an ordinary family for three years.

The human only smiled and handed over the money. "Don't spare anything for his comfort. I'll pay any additional expense when I return."

 _As if you would,_ Chandra thought as he left, as she had heard the promise many times, but most of them gave up when they faced the true danger.

* * *

Her patient's condition worsened everyday. On the fifth day Chandra was digging a hole for burial when the human returned.

The human walked with a limp and leaned heavily over a makeshift crutch. His clothes were dirty, stained with blood and there was an ugly wound on his forehead.

"I brought back the plants. Is he still alive?"

"Yes. Now get out of my way." Chandra grabbed the ingredients from the human and started to prepare the cure. She won’t let her patient die now to ruin her reputation.

"Thank you," the human said, so sincere that Chandra was not sure how to take it.

"Is it worth it?" she asked, noticing more injury at a closer distance.

"He's my friend," the human answered while stumbling to his friend's side. He brushed a lock of hair from his friend's forehead and held his hand.

"You'll be fine," he said repeatedly as if chanting a prayer.

The next morning when the Vulcan woke up, the human’s smile lit up the whole room.

Chandra's patient recovered quickly. However, the human now caught a fever, probably due to an infection. His Vulcan friend kept vigil by his side.

“Take some rest. I don’t need you to collapse again,” she said to the Vulcan.

The Vulcan gently wipe the human’s face with a wet cloth. “I am adequate. How’s the captain?”

“He’ll heal. You’re lucky to get cured in time. I don’t want you to ruin my work.”

“Your concern, while understandable, is not necessary.” The Vulcan look amused - Chandra must be tired enough to hallucinate that, as Vulcans had no sense of humour. He moistened the human’s chapped lip with the cloth.

Chandra gave up convincing him, wondering what they were to each other and how they earned the devotion of each other.

* * *

 That night Chandra walked by their room when the men were talking.

"You should get some rest," the human said and interrupted when the Vulcan started replying. "You may have amazing Vulcan physiology unlike we mere human, but don't forget that you have just recovered from near death. By the way, stop throwing yourself before me anytime I'm in danger. You know better than me how much the fleet invested in you, Mr. Spock."

"May I also point out the unnecessary reckless risk you took for my sake, Captain? A captain is essential to the mission, but any officers can be replaced."

"Well, I'm the captain, so I decide whether the risk is reasonable. Besides, you're never replaceable, not to me anyway."

Chandra passed by quickly, feeling as if she had intruded something intimate.

* * *

Several days later, Chandra’s patients were leaving. 

"Thank you for your service, Doctor. If there's anything I can help..." the human said while leaning lightly on his better leg. The Vulcan subtly supported him.

"No," Chandra knew that she could ask for the world from the human, who would pay without hesitation, but she didn't feel like it. "Farewell. I hope I don't need to see you both again." It was not necessary to add more, as these two people would take care of each other.

"Farewell, Doctor."

When they disappeared from her sight, Chandra returned home with a light gait.

**Author's Note:**

> written for: fan_flashworks: amnesty 35th round  
> written for gen prompt bingo: I Have a Rendezvous with Death


End file.
